Door-catch



I. U. MINEHART.

DOOR CATCH.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3, 1920.

Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

' I. u. MINEHART.

, DOOR CATCH APPLICATION FILED fEB. 3. 1 920.

Patented Apr. 12; 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- z'ziehart.

said handles.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. i

IRVIN' U. MINEHART, OF COGGON, IOWA.

noon-Caron.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 12, 1921- Application'filed February 3, 1920. Serial No. 355,915.

To all 10 ham it may concern Be it known that I, InvIN U. MINEHART, acitizen of the United States, residing at Coggon, in the county of Linnand State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Door- Catch, of whichthe following. is a specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in door catches orlatches and the object thereof is to provide improved gravity operatedlatch for use on latch to be reversed for right or left hand doors,while additional means are provided folholding the door in an openposition while preventing injury to one of the handles which cooperateswith means carried by a wall or part against which the door moves whenopened, in order to prevent injury to With the above and otherobjects'in view which will appear as the description proceeds,theinvention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and inthe details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it beingunderstood that within the scope of what is claimed, changes in theprecise embodiment of the invention shown 7 can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved gravity door catchinapplied posi. tion, the bolt being shown engaged with its keeper;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the device disengaged from the keeper;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 butshowing the latch in a disengaged position;

Fig. 4: is a fragmentary perspective view showing the means ofengagement with one of the handles of the catch or latch, in order tohold the door in an open position;

Fig. 5 is a detailed view of an arbor or fulcrum bar foractuating thesliding bolt; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the sliding bolt.

Referring to the drawings in detail, in which like reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts throughout the several vlews, my improveddoor catch is shown as comprising a casing 10 preferably of integralrectangular outline having attaching flanges 11 at the top and bottomedges there of suitably apertured for receiving securing screws or thelike 12'by which thedevice is attached to the outer face of a door orthe like13 adjacent to the free edge portion thereof. The casing 10 cutor hollowed out at its inner face as shown at 14; and in rectangularoutline, providing side walls 15 and 16 thelatter'of which is providedwith a recess or opening '17 for the purpose of receiving the engagingend of the sliding latch bolt therethrough, as will be later debetedportions or seats 18 adapted to accommodate a rectangular cover plate 19which 16 suitably secured as ndicated at 20 to the casing, at the innerwalls of the recesses or rabbeted portions 18, as particularly shown inF igf3 of the-drawings. Alined openings 21are provided in the front wallof the casing proper and the plate 19, so as to receive an arbor orfulcrum bolt 22 having a radially projecting bit 23 preferably slightlytapered toward its free end as shown, and accommodated between the wallat the casing and the plate 19 with the arbor projecting beyond theouter faces thereof. Slidably mounted in the cut-out 14 between the topand bottom walls thereof, is a sliding bolt or catch 24 of peculiarconfiguration preferably having corner projections 25 at the enlargedend thereof which is provided with a series of corrugations as shown. Atthe tapered end of the catch plate or bolt 24, it is provided with areduced catch portion or beveled ended bolt 26 forming end shoulders 27at the top and bottom, designed to engage the inner face of the wall 16through which the opening or recess 17 is provided to accommodate theportion 26. As the sliding catch or bolt 24 is mounted within thecasing, it is designed to be normally engaged by the bit 23 and for thispun i the recess thereof is designated at 35.

pose the said latch plate or bolt isprovided with a cross shaped opening28 therethrough having a series, preferably four recessed extensions 298XtQI1Clll1g vertically and horn, zontally in either direction for enagement" by and accommodating the bit 23. mounted on the projecting endsofthe arbor or fulcrum bolt 22, are handles 30, each having an opening31 therethrough and formed at one end with a reduced extension or hub32' apertured to receive the arbor therethrongh. The arbor is shown ofcircular cross sec tion so as to freely rotate through the circularapertures 21 and the handles are fixed or keyed to the arbor, as bymeans of screws 33 engaged through the reduced portions 32' at one sideand seating in the arboras shown. Obviously when these handles areraised in the manner shown in dotted lines in 2 of the drawings, theywill swing the. arbor.

on its pivot to cause the bit 23 operating in the lower extension of theopening 28, to

' latter sag to prevent interference with the working of the latch. Thekeeper jplate is of elongated form having attaching flanges 36 at theupper and lower ends thereof suit- I ably apertured for receivingfastening screws or the like 37 in juxtapositionjto the casing 10. Asthe keeper plate is of right angular crosssection at the opening and cutout 35 forming the catch. escutcheon, the open side is disposedtowardthe free end of the casing 10 at the wall from which thejbolt 26projects and. the wall 38 closes the outer face of the keeper. Byswinging the handles 30 to raised positions in the manner shown in Fig.2 of the drawings, the bolt is withdrawn from the keeper and by reasonof the'weight of the handles, and the beveled end of the bolt 26, thelatter may be engaged with the keeper without injury to the parts, thatis, automatically so as to raise the handles when the same arehorizontally disposed due to the shifting of the catch plate or bolt 24through the medium of the'arbor 22 and the bit 28,01 the catch may beengaged with the keeper by. raising'the handles manually and thenreleasing them when the weight of the handles acting by gravity willautomatically dispose the catch In an engaged position. displacementwill be positively prevented,

since the fiat face of the bolt will be presented against the innerrfaceof the front portion of the keeper andthedoor can manually.

In this position only be opened by raising the handles 'l'hus, thenecessity of employing defective oncomplic'ated parts such as springsand other intricate constructions commonly employed in locks or the likeand catches, is obviated, thereby rendering tl device especially adaptedfor use in connec tion with outside doors particularly barn .doors, .orin connection with refrigerators,

ice boxes and the like where rusting is apt to take place and in ureintricate parts, such as springs and the like commonly employed in thisart.

. In order. to hold the door in an open position against a wall or partof'the inclosure in which the door swings, the handle at the outer faceof the casing'is designed to engage a catch 39, the same being ofV-shaped construction having attaching legs e0, thefeetportions 41 ofwhich are disposedin alinement andslotted as indicated at 4:2, toreceive adjusting screws 4-3 by which the catch is attached to the faceof the wall a l. Thecatch 39 is providechwith a beveled'engaging portionas designed to permit the handle 30 at the outside to ride over thesame, sothat said beveled portion will engage between thespace'dportions of the handle produced by the opening 31 in the form ofan elongated slot therein, and also forming a grip by whichthe handlemaybe conveniently manipulated, so that the right angular shoulder. 46will engage the inner wall of the one V of the spaced portions ,ofthehandle, thus closed positionuntil the handle at the .opposite side israised. It is'understood that this engagement is automatic, especiallydue to the fact that the handle 30 maybe elevated by a beveled portion45 in moving into engagement with the shoulder 46 in order to preventinjury to the handleythe catch is provided with an extension 47 at thefree end thereof adapted to abut the door'or wall of the barn,asindicated vparticularly in Fig. 4i of the drawings. By

reason 'of the slots l2 and the securing means 43, the catch can bevertically .adjusted so as to accurately engage the handle.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a door catcher latch, whichembodies a preventing the door fromswinging to a.

used for either right or left hand doors, the fiat extension of thefulcrum bolt or arbor 22 constituted by the bit 23 corresponding to thebit of a key, always extending downwardly for operation or" the bolt inthe manner already explained. It is also to be understood that thehandles are in reverse positions during this operation, simply byloosening the set screws or other fastening means employed for securingthe handles to the arbon it being understood that the arbor may besquared or otherwise form d for this purpose. Since the extension orbumper a? engagesthe door, and the handle is engaged with the catchshoulder d6, the possibility of striking the handle against the wall andbreaking the same, is obviated.

Having thus I claim is:

A door catch of the gravity type embodying a keeper having attachingmeans, a casing having attaching means, said keeper and described theinvention what casing conforming in shape in end eleva tion, sald casinghaving a cut-out producing top and bottom walls and side Walls,

one of said side walls disposed toward the keeper being provided with arecess, said top and bottom walls being provided with rabbetedrecessesya detachable cover plate secured in said rabbeted recesses,over the cut-out at the back of the casing, a latch bolt of tapered-likeformation movably mounted in the cutout, the enlarged end thereof beingslidably supported at the bottom of the cut-out and the reduced endthereof being formed with a beveled engaging portion with shoulderedwalls above and below the same, said bolt having a cross shaped openingtherethrough having a series of extensions of concaved-formationextending vertically and horizontally, an arbor rotatably mountedthrough the casing and having a radially projecting bit designed toengage said opening and extension recesses thereof wherebv when thearbor is turned said bit engages the walls of said recesses to shiftsaid bolt to engaging or disengaging positions with respect to thekeeper, and handles mounted on the arbor. r

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as myown, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

IRVIN U. MINEHART. Witnesses:

DWIGHT D. HASTINGS, F. \V. LINDOHL.

